Book hubb : Rajender Singh Bedi
Friday, August 28, 2020
Rajender Singh Bedi: kokhjali (कोखजली)
राजेंद्र सिंह बेदी जी का जन्म 1 सितंबर 1915 को लाहौर में हुआ था। उनकी मातृभाषा पंजाबी लेकिन उनका संपूर्ण साहित्य उर्दू में था। वे अपने समय के उर्दू साहित्य में वे एक बडे़ प्रगतिशील कथाकार के रूप में उभर कर सामने आए। जीवन के प्रारंभिक दौर में वो डाक विभाग और डाक तार विभाग में क्लर्क के रूप में रहे और फिर 1958 में ऑल इंडिया रेडियो, जम्मू के डायरेक्टर बने। इसके बाद उन्होंने स्वतंत्र लेखन को पूर्णतया अपने जीवन में उतार लिया। 1955 में उन्होंने गरम कोट नामक एक कला फिल्म का निर्माण किया, जिस में मुख्य भूमिका विश्व प्रसिद्ध अभिनेता श्री बलराज साहनी और निरूपा राय ने निभाई थी। 1962 में उनके एक महत्वपूर्ण उपन्यास का प्रकाशन हुआ, जिसका नाम था एक चादर मैली सी। उन्हें इसी उपन्यास के लिए 1965 में साहित्य अकादमी पुरस्कार भी मिला था। सन 1984 में उनका निधन हो गया। उनकी मुख्य रचनाओं में 1962 में प्रकाशित एक चादर मैली सी, दाना हो आम 1938 में प्रकाशित हुई, ग्रहण 1941, अपना दुख मुझे दे दो 1965, हमारे हाथ कलम हुए 1974, बेजान चीजें 1943 एक नाटक संग्रह खेल 1981 में प्रकाशित हुआ। उर्दू में राजेंद्र सिंह बेदी जी का नाम अत्यंत सम्मान और आदर के साथ लिया जाता है। उनके साहित्य की जमीन बहुत गहरी है
और उस पर फसल बहुत शानदार । उनकी कहानियों में जो सच्चाई हमें मिलती हैं, वह जिंदगी को मात्र जी लेने से नहीं बल्कि जिंदगी को तलाशने से संभव हो पाती है। राजेंद्र सिंह बेदी जी की कहानियां किसी बने बनाए सांचे में ढली हुई नहीं है ना ही उनके अंदर कोई बुद्धिजीवी किशन का पूर्वाग्रह है उनकी कहानियां जिंदगी के अलग अलग से गुजरती हुई जिंदगी की बेशुमार नगीने इकट्ठे करती हुई चलती हैं और एक सजीव दुनिया हमारे आंखों के सामने रूबरू करवा देती हैं । ऐसे ही एक कहानी का नाम है कोखजली जो एक मां की ममता और उसकी पराकाष्ठा के बारे में बताती है।
यदि आप इस कहानी को सुनना चाहते हैं तो नीचे दिए गए लिंक पर जाएं और इस कहानी का आनंद उठाएं।
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
The New Girl : Daniel Silva : Book Review
Name of Novel: The New Girl
Name of Writer: Daniel Silva
Publisher : Harpercollins Publishers
Price of Book : 399/- MRP
Number of Pages: 478
ISBN: 978-0-00-833639-4
Year of Publishing:2019
Amazon Link :The New Girl By Daniel Silva
'A world-class practitioner of spy fiction.' ( Washington Post)
Daniel Silva is one of the best selling authors and number one New York Times best selling author who first marked his impression in 1997 with his novel The Unlikely Spy. From 2001, he started a new series with his novel The Kill Artist. This series is Gabriel Allon Series . The New Girl is the 19th novel of this series and the latest of the series. This novel is sub-divided into five parts-- Abduction, Abdication, Absolution, Assassination and Vengeance.
What's done cannot be undone.---- Macbeth
Abduction......The New Girl is the latest offering of Daniel Silva which involves Gabriel Allon, who is an artistic curator and chief of Israeli investigating agency. The novel start with the introduction of a mysterious girl twelve year old girl Jihan Tantawi in International School of Geneva. His father is Adnan Tantawi is mysterious billionaire who supposed to own half of the Cairo. But despite all of concealment and secrecy this girl Jihan got kidnapped. This event lead to a multinational saga of deceit and conflict between different international investigating agency. In this part, three main protagonists are introduced. Sarah Bancroft and Gabriel Allon are main characters and a mystery unfolds as Girl who is kidnaped is Reema who is Daughter of none other than KBM i.e. Crowned Prince of Saudi Arab Khalid bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. After that Daniel Silva weaves a plot which have various angles of Middle East politics, Brexit and assassination of a International Correspondent Omar Nawwaf. After meeting KBM where Sarah plays an important role to arrange a meeting, Gabriel entangles himself into a multinational and multi layered plot.
Abdication....... is the part two. Here the plot of novel thickens and pick up its race. As the heading of the part indicates that what is going to happen in the life of crowned prince Khalid bin Mohammed. His detractors plan was beyond the imagination of Gabriel but KBM pays a price of his policies and end of this section is quiet sensational and unpredictable.
Absolution ...... is third part where story takes a new leap after abdication which involves intelligence agencies of Britain, France, Russia and Gabriel Allon of Israel. This is intricately woven segment which have moves and countermoves of hawks of their field. This chapter introduces Hanifa Khoury, wife of slained reporter Ommar, Rebecca Bettencourt and a lot of others.. here a plan is laid and that is assassination.
Assassination ..... is fourth segment which I can say is highly engrossing for readers at least true for me. A mission which is plotted to checkmate Gabriel Allon but he is a master of his own field . Here, I prefer not to elaborate this segment further.
Vengeance ..... is the final part of novel where Gabriel Allon is in full command of events which ultimately expose the men behind the whole mission. Here the title new girl is justified but it is not for Reema, the daughter of KBM.
First of all, I must confess that The New Girl is first novel of Daniel Silva which I Happened to read and it is latest of Gabriel Allon series. Why I am saying this ? Because it was difficult for a new reader to get hooked to story as some characters like Sarah, Mikhail, Rousseau etc are in continuity. So, it took some time get engaged in this story but if you stick to go through the first part then events get you involved and you do not feel an outsider. As Daniel Silva is a international best seller but story build up seems to un event full after the kidnap of Reema. About more than hundred pages are used just to describe the movement of its characters from one place to another place where it is very difficult to stay focussed by reader.
My View:
In my view, Daniel Silva has delivered a complete package which may be lethargic in beginning but in the end you feel satisfied and do not regret of this book. If you are ardent fan of him, then definitely you may enjoy more as you stay with plot.
The New Girl is complete in its term but Daniel Silva has left the ending somewhat open. As he has announced his new novel "The Order" which is going to be released in mid of July.
My Rating: ★★★★/★★★★★
Name of Writer: Daniel Silva
Publisher : Harpercollins Publishers
Price of Book : 399/- MRP
Number of Pages: 478
ISBN: 978-0-00-833639-4
Year of Publishing:2019
Amazon Link :The New Girl By Daniel Silva
'A world-class practitioner of spy fiction.' ( Washington Post)
Daniel Silva |
Daniel Silva is one of the best selling authors and number one New York Times best selling author who first marked his impression in 1997 with his novel The Unlikely Spy. From 2001, he started a new series with his novel The Kill Artist. This series is Gabriel Allon Series . The New Girl is the 19th novel of this series and the latest of the series. This novel is sub-divided into five parts-- Abduction, Abdication, Absolution, Assassination and Vengeance.
What's done cannot be undone.---- Macbeth
Abduction......The New Girl is the latest offering of Daniel Silva which involves Gabriel Allon, who is an artistic curator and chief of Israeli investigating agency. The novel start with the introduction of a mysterious girl twelve year old girl Jihan Tantawi in International School of Geneva. His father is Adnan Tantawi is mysterious billionaire who supposed to own half of the Cairo. But despite all of concealment and secrecy this girl Jihan got kidnapped. This event lead to a multinational saga of deceit and conflict between different international investigating agency. In this part, three main protagonists are introduced. Sarah Bancroft and Gabriel Allon are main characters and a mystery unfolds as Girl who is kidnaped is Reema who is Daughter of none other than KBM i.e. Crowned Prince of Saudi Arab Khalid bin Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. After that Daniel Silva weaves a plot which have various angles of Middle East politics, Brexit and assassination of a International Correspondent Omar Nawwaf. After meeting KBM where Sarah plays an important role to arrange a meeting, Gabriel entangles himself into a multinational and multi layered plot.
Abdication....... is the part two. Here the plot of novel thickens and pick up its race. As the heading of the part indicates that what is going to happen in the life of crowned prince Khalid bin Mohammed. His detractors plan was beyond the imagination of Gabriel but KBM pays a price of his policies and end of this section is quiet sensational and unpredictable.
Absolution ...... is third part where story takes a new leap after abdication which involves intelligence agencies of Britain, France, Russia and Gabriel Allon of Israel. This is intricately woven segment which have moves and countermoves of hawks of their field. This chapter introduces Hanifa Khoury, wife of slained reporter Ommar, Rebecca Bettencourt and a lot of others.. here a plan is laid and that is assassination.
Assassination ..... is fourth segment which I can say is highly engrossing for readers at least true for me. A mission which is plotted to checkmate Gabriel Allon but he is a master of his own field . Here, I prefer not to elaborate this segment further.
Vengeance ..... is the final part of novel where Gabriel Allon is in full command of events which ultimately expose the men behind the whole mission. Here the title new girl is justified but it is not for Reema, the daughter of KBM.
First of all, I must confess that The New Girl is first novel of Daniel Silva which I Happened to read and it is latest of Gabriel Allon series. Why I am saying this ? Because it was difficult for a new reader to get hooked to story as some characters like Sarah, Mikhail, Rousseau etc are in continuity. So, it took some time get engaged in this story but if you stick to go through the first part then events get you involved and you do not feel an outsider. As Daniel Silva is a international best seller but story build up seems to un event full after the kidnap of Reema. About more than hundred pages are used just to describe the movement of its characters from one place to another place where it is very difficult to stay focussed by reader.
My View:
In my view, Daniel Silva has delivered a complete package which may be lethargic in beginning but in the end you feel satisfied and do not regret of this book. If you are ardent fan of him, then definitely you may enjoy more as you stay with plot.
The New Girl is complete in its term but Daniel Silva has left the ending somewhat open. As he has announced his new novel "The Order" which is going to be released in mid of July.
My Rating: ★★★★/★★★★★
The New Girl |
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Strip Jack: Ian Rankin: Book Review
Name of the Novel: Strip Jack
Name of Author: Ian Rankin
Publisher: Orion Books Ltd.
Published in : 1992
Pages: 290
ISBN: 0-75287-723-2
"But no, it was worse than that. Much worse. It was an
ordinary bed room, albeit with red lightbulbs in its several lamps. And in an ordinary bed lay an ordinary enough
looking woman, her elbow pressed into the pillow, head resting at an angle on
her clenched fist. And on that bed,
dressed and staring at the floor, sat someone Rebus recognized; the Member of
Parliament for north and south Esk" …… (Page
7)
STORY: -
Strip jack is an intense novel written by Ian Rankin. It is
fourth novel in the John Rebus series. Like previous plots, this story is also
set up in Edinburgh.
Story starts with a raid on a brothel where a local Member
of Parliament, Gregor Jack, caught or found in the premises of brothel. When
much-loved politician Gregor Jack is discovered in a midnight raid on a
discreet brothel, a surprising number of journalists are on hand--a situation
that endangers Jack's political future.
Rebus
has a sympathetic view towards Jack. In his view, he was victim of a conspiracy
which is designed to strip him naked in the society without any power and
image. In the mean time, a dead body of a woman found in the river and a
suspect, William Glass, under police suspicion and Rebus under pressure from
his superiors to accept a homeless derelict as the killer of a woman found in
the river. There are too many unanswered questions for Rebus. Like B why was he
at that particular brothel at that particular time? And why was the press on
the scene practically at the same time as the police? Rebus is an experienced
cop who knows the ways of the politicians
and the criminals. For him, there are too many questions and too few answers.
Ian Rankin's Strip Jack |
Jack ‘s personal life with his wife Elizabeth is in sticky
situation after his brothel episode. Rebus wants to meet her to know about her reactions
and mental state but she is found dead. Her
body is soon pulled from a nearby river, a fatality resembling the recent
murder of another, unidentified woman. A drunk who brags of the first killing
gives a false address and vanishes north of the city. From here, a saga of
investigations unravels where many sub plots are intricately woven with main
plot. Rebus comes to know about ‘The Pack’ which is group of young friends of
Jack and Elizabeth. Each character is now settled in the society in different
manners, be it a movie star, transporter or a mental patient. Meanwhile Rebus,
trying to trace a cache of valuable stolen books, finds himself talking again
to the late Elizabeth's coterie of party friends.
Rankin has been able to create a realistic world in which
his weary protagonist operates. He tackles his cases while involved in the
intricacies of the day-to-day life: pints, coffee and hangovers, stumbling
romance with patience (his girlfriend), wet weather, damp clothes, arrogant superiors
and indifferent subordinates. “After all of his stubbornness and failure
of judgments, Rebus closes in on the satisfying solution. Then, the idea of a
quick bath appealed. He looked into the kitchen first, and saw that Mrs. Wilkie
was busy at the stove, humming to herself. So he headed for the bathroom. There
was no lock on the door. Or rather, there was a lock, but half of it was
hanging loose” … (page 123)
MY VIEW: -
Since it is my first meeting with John Rebus, my views may contrasting
to the others. Beginning of the story is
very interesting. The first meeting
between MP Jack and Rebus was able to generate interest for the future. But after
that when rebus investigate about the stolen books or antique books, story
become somewhat slow. The story doesn't begin with the murder and it happens in
due course of the plot and till then, you only had Rebus wandering, casually
talking to the MP who caught, was investigating in a case regarding stolen
books and all these also gave time for the author to bring out the character of
Patience Aitken.
The plot was amazing in the begining, moving across
several places in Scotland, several characters with different occupation,
different background and personality but somehow all of them were connected to
the case in some way or the other but at the same time I felt that the number
of characters were too many which made the reader hard to hold grip on the
events and may lose track of it. It had
nearly everything in it, an enthusiastic, slave-driving police detective with
dull superiors and a troubled relationship, a politician in trouble with his
associates trying their best to protect him and of course, a very good mystery
supported with interesting investigations carried out by the police. But in the
end, as a reader I am surprised of the outcome of the result. I can confess
that after reading Daniel Silva’s international political and spy drama, Rebus
adventures are far more rooted to ground and realistic.
If you are interested in realistic portrayals and pinch of suspense, than you can read the John Rebus adventures created by Ian Rankin.
My Rating : ★★★/★★★★★ (3/5)
Friday, June 5, 2020
Ian Rankin : Fictional World of John Rebus
Ian Rankin : Fictional World of John Rebus
Ian Rankin |
Ian James
Rankin is famous Scottish crime writer, who is born on 28 April, 1960. He is
best known for his famous character, Inspector John Rebus. The story and plot
of John Rebus novels are set up in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied literature
and graduated from university of Edinburgh. He spent some years in London and
France during his establishing careers as novelist.
As happens
to most of the novelists, his ambition was to establish himself as mainstream
writer, not to be a crime writer. He consider his first novels like Knots and
crosses and Hide and Seek as main stream books. His later novels, in which
Inspector John Rebus is central character, are major contributions to Scottish
Crime Fiction. Later on his novels were adapted as TV series in which actor
John Hannah and Ken Stott played as Rebus.
John Hannah as John Rebus |
Ken Stott as John Rebus |
In Rebus novels, Ian Rankin plot involves murders, un-natural deaths and mysterious disappearances where Rebus takes the centre stage investigations. In his novels, Edinburgh is present as a character along with stark realities of corruption, poverty and organized crime.
Apart from
crime, Ian Rankin provides struggle of Rebus with internal politics of police
department, his tendency to bend the rules and ignorance of his superior. His personal
and emotional life is also intricately woven which runs parallel to his crime
investigations. In his life, apart from his daughter, Samantha Rebus, five
women are involved, i.e., , Rhona ( his separated-wife), Patience Aitkin (ex
girlfriend), Gill Templer (his boss), Jean Burchill ( lady friend and friend of
Gill Templer) and Deborah Quant (pathologist).
Novels
of Ian Rankin:
- Knots and Crosses (1987)
- Hide and Seek (1991)
- Tooth and Nail (1992)
- Strip Jack (1992)
- The Black Book (1993)
- Mortal Causes (1994)
- Let it Bleed (1996)
- Black and BlueBlack
and Blue (1997)
- The Hanging Garden (1998)
- Dead Souls (1999)
- Set in the Darkness (2000)
- The Falls (2001)
- The Ressurrection Man (2002)
- The Blood Hunt (2002)
- A Question of Blood (2003)
- The Bagger's Banquet (2003)
- Flesh Market Close (2004)
- The Flood (2005)
- The Naming of Dead (2006)
- Exit Music (2007)
- Doors Open (2009)
- A Good Hanging (2010)
- The Complaints (2010)
- The Watchman (2010)
- Standing in Another Man's Grave (2012)
- The Impossible Dead (2012)
- Saints of Shadow Bible (2013)
- The Beat Goes On -Short Stories (2014)
- Even Dogs in the Wild (2015)
- Rather Be the Devil (2016)
- In a House of Lies (2018)
- A song for the Dark Times (2020)
- West wind: The Classic lost Thriller
- Rebus - Early years ( Knots and Crosses, Hide and Seek, Tooth and Nail) (1990)
- Rebus
- The St. Leonards' Years (Strip Jack, The Black Book, Mortal
Causes) (2001)
- Rebus - Lost Years (Let it Bleed, Black and Blue, The Hanging Garden) (1998)
- Rebus
- Capital Crimes (Dead Souls, Set in Darkness, The Falls)
(2004)
- Rebus - Three Great Novels (Resurrection Men, A Question of Blood, Flesh market Close) (2008)
- The
Complete Short Stories (A Good Hanging and Other Stories, Beggars
Banquet, Atonement) (2005)
Ian Rankin |
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Rush of Blood | Mark Billingham | Book review
Name of Novel: Rush of Blood
‘So, they eat their final meal together and try to enjoy the last night of their holiday. They talk about how the woman’s daughter has probably just gone to the mail, if she hasn’t turned up already, and keep talking in much the same way even though the police cars are still around the following morning. On a full flight back to Gatwick, they try and fail to sleep. Scratchy-eyed, they eat their foil-wrapped meals and watch movies, and several pick at the skin that is already peeling from chest and shoulders. They stay cheerful, more and less, but each of them is thinking about the woman by the pool and a smile that quivered and died. That kept on dying, a little but quicker each time it was cranked into place.’.... Prologue
Story Idea: Rush of Blood is story of tree couples : Angie and Barry, Edward and Sue and Dave and Marina. Three couples are on holiday in Sarasota in Florida which is known for its great beaches. Their holiday is marked by an event when a young girl Amber-Marie Wilson goes missing. after holidays, these couples continue in touch through dinner organised by them. When an another girl goes missing and the three couples are questioned by ambitious trainee detective Jenny. She is asked by Jeff Gardener to follow up preliminary round of interviews with three couples who happens to be last members who have seen Amber-Marie Wilson live. On the basis of her investigations, Jenny believes that one of the couples is hiding something. It is Jenny efforts which lead to the culprit in the last.
Story of the novel propagate through three dinners organised by three couples under suspicion. A lot of time and pages is devoted to the psychological and behavioral study of couples. The conversation between them and their daily is hugely elaborated. During dinner party, the conversation between its principle characters seems to be imposed and boring or somewhat forced.
My View : The plot of novel is distinctly non-violent with no out of box twist and turns. Story moves in a straight pathway wit uniform motion. Even the character of Jeff Gardner was not helping to propagate the investigations in a particular direction. Mark Billingham used a psychological analytic description technique to reveal the culprit in the end. Lack of action in the plot proves to be a little more for me and the time period and description between first and second dinner organised by couples distracting and failed to hold the interest of reader, at least me.
Name of Author: Mark Billingham
Published by: Sphere ( An imprint of Little Brown Book Group)
Pages: 480
Price : 180/-
ISBN-10: 9780751544039, ISBN-13: 9780751544039, ASIN: 0751544039
Amazon Link to Buy: Rush of Blood
Rush of Blood |
Rush of Blood is the first book of Mark Billingham which I started in my corona lock down. As I came to know about his famous character Tom Thorne as detective inspector. When I started this novel, I was in impression that I am going to meet Thorne but there was only hint of him. So, it is a story where investigations are handled by Jeff Gardner and his over enthusiastic sub-ordinate detective Jenny Quinlan.
'Jenny wanted the killer caught, of course, but there was always a question of credit being given where it was due. She'd learned that much while she was still a cadet, for God's sake. Thinking about it, she decided that Jeff Gardener was definitely the sort she could trust, someone who would make sure the work she had done on the case was acknowledged properly'.... page 238
Title Page |
Story of the novel propagate through three dinners organised by three couples under suspicion. A lot of time and pages is devoted to the psychological and behavioral study of couples. The conversation between them and their daily is hugely elaborated. During dinner party, the conversation between its principle characters seems to be imposed and boring or somewhat forced.
Back Cover |
Overall I can say ' Rush of Blood is a less than average experience for me. This may be due to high expectations from a highly acclaimed Tom Thorne writer. Better luck next time when I am planning to induldge myself into his novels like 'Death message or Sleepy head'.
My Ratings : ★★/★★★★★
Mark Billingham |
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Sholay: The Making of Classic : Anupama Chopra
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